A Summer of Significance

By Amy Carney

Childhood is short. Summer is even shorter. God willing, we get 18 summers with our children at home, so how can we cultivate a summer of significance this year?

Psalm 90:12 (NKJV) confirms that how we choose to spend our precious time this summer matters. “Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.”

Here are six ways we can cultivate a significant summer:

1. Strengthen your family values and purpose: Have you claimed your core values and purpose for raising your kids? It will be nearly impossible to live out a summer of significance if you haven’t taken the time to define what significant even means to you.

Start by defining your core values and what you want to instill in your children while they grow up under your care. What do you want your son or daughter armored with when they leave your home one day headed into adulthood? Claim it. Name it and strive to live it out this summer.

2. Prioritize play: Too often, we look to fill our children’s days with organized activities and planned outings. While our sons and daughters certainly enjoy being regularly entertained, perhaps you can strive to cultivate more simple, playful moments and activities in your home this summer.

In my book Parent on Purpose*, I discuss how I use our dinner table to cultivate playful moments for our family. For example, you can easily plan a themed family dinner night. We still talk about the backward dinners we did when our kids were younger, where we all came to dinner wearing backward clothing and started our meal with dessert and ended with salad. Consider what brings your family joy when you do it together. Plan more of that to create significant summer moments and memories for your family. On my blog at www.amycarney.com you can read 11 FREE (or almost free) ideas for being more playful this summer! (Be sure to look for my Boredom Bucket idea for helping kids to be playful on their own!)

3. Cultivate an atmosphere of growth: What didn’t go so well for your child during this school year? Focus on strengthening that area this summer. Our youngest has struggled with writing longer narratives, so we’ll be working on that skill during the break from school. While playing and relaxing are important, it’s also crucial to keep learning and growing through the summer months. So consider ways your children can expand their learning this summer without turning to screens.

4. Teach life skills: Having the kids at home provides a perfect opportunity to teach them what we want them to know before they head out the door for adulthood one day. This summer, take the opportunity to teach your children how to do their own laundry, cook, clean, or change a tire. What do they need to know, and what can you take the time to teach them this summer? You can finally open that bank account or help your child start a business. Or you can teach them how to tie their shoes or handwrite, address, and mail a thank you note. What life skills will you purposely teach your child this summer?

5. Make mindful entertainment choices: Binge-watching random television shows, scrolling social media constantly, or playing video games non-stop shouldn’t fill our child’s summer days. There may be space for mindless entertainment choices, but we must purposely set boundaries so they don’t consume our days. Try to select documentaries to educate yourself as well as create conversation in your family this summer. Two of our favorite DVD sets we watched when traveling around the USA on our epic RV adventure were: How the States Got Their Shapes and History Channel’s America- The Story of Us.

6. Go on local adventures: Perhaps like me, you may have circumstances that don’t allow for upcoming travel or vacations this summer. Yet, we can still consider where we may be able to take the kids to explore, get out in nature and enjoy the outdoors at a minimal cost. Most likely, you don’t have to venture further than your home state for family fun. But, so often, we take the beautiful places that surround us locally for granted that we’ve never taken the time to visit . . . yet. What adventures will you create this summer that will add to your family narrative and strengthen your relationships?

Other questions to ask yourself to cultivate a summer of significance in 2023:

What does each family member need this summer to strengthen them physically, mentally, emotionally, and relationally?

What frustrated you the most this school year? Work on improving that area this summer so you have established better habits when school rolls around again. What summer family tradition can you repeat this year? Summer wouldn’t be summer without ?

Be sure to check out my Create a Summer of Significance Printable Pack featuring 20+ plan your summer. Find it at: amycarney.com/shop.

She is a public speaker, content creator, and product maker, helping parents raise their children with more joy and purpose.

She and her husband of 25 years are parents to 21-year-old triplet sons, a 20-year-old daughter and two younger sons they recently adopted from the Arizona foster care system.

You can connect with Amy at amycarney.com.